WA New lawyer......new paper work?

[North West]

Hi,
Am in the midst of a financial seperation.....my ex has changed lawyers.....requesting new Financials....notice of service ect ect.

As i have previously provided all details to the initial law firm, should i comply?

We had already agreed on a figure to settle ,but had not had this ratified.

Thank you Stay Safe.

 

[Atticus]

Why has she changed lawyers?

If the previous lawyer was paid, then *most* paperwork should be transferable to new lawyer .... You are under no obligation to provide anything

 

[Rod]

I'd be telling them their client has already been provided with the information requested, provide the dates you did so, and suggest that if they want duplicates you would be willing to do so for $X.

 

[Rob Legat - SBPL]

My thoughts are that her original solicitors may not have passed the information on, possibly by reason of a lien on the file for unpaid fees. Just a hunch.

 

[Atticus]

My thoughts are that her original solicitors may not have passed the information on, possibly by reason of a lien on the file for unpaid fees.

Those were my initial thoughts as well

 

[GlassHalfFull]

If that is the case, is that ethical? And how is it possible to progress a case when the previous lawyer won't provide the documents and the new lawyer can't represent the client without a new copy? Obviously the solution is to pay the bill. But assuming they simply cannot, how can the deadlock broken?

 

[sammy01]

Pick your battles. No doubt you kept copies of what you sent last time. What is your priority? getting the deal done OR being difficult?

 

[GlassHalfFull]

Kind of agree with Sammy pragmatically, but I would at least have them pay for the costs, given all communication has to go through lawyers, resulting in costs incurred. But yeah, it happens. In my case, I've had to have my lawyer do plenty of work 'for the other side' (particularly the ICL who has been pretty lazy and needs constant reminders to get things done in time). In one of our hearings, my lawyer had to stay back at the end of the day to wite down the consent orders down formally as the judge ran out of time and asked 'the parties' to do it. It ended up falling to my lawyer somehow, and my ex's lawyer went home early. It happens. 🤷‍♂️ What can you do? If you want things to go smoothly, you pay your lawyer to do extra stuff they probably shouldn't have to.